The Ones Without Souls
by ILAUGHATYOUALL
Summary: A boy who wants to save his princess. A girl who is lost. A demon who wants it all. A goddess who will take everything away. Love. Whatever they care for is intertwined in an inexplicable web of history and magic, unable to escape. How exactly does one deal with their inner demons? Natsu is about to find out. AU. Prologue is up and suggestions welcome!
1. Prologue

**A/N: **Laugh here. I originally intended to publish this story as an original piece on FictionPress or something, but I decided to make it a Fairy Tail Alternative Universe instead. I tried for a different tone than I usually do. Hope you enjoy, as this is my present to you for waiting a month+ for updates! (Eeeep...)

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**Title: **The Ones Without Souls

**Author: **ILAUGHATYOUALL

**Disclaimer: **Some people say peoples' love of suing the crap out of each other is a bad thing, but if it wasn't for that litigious spirit producing disclaimers would be far less entertaining. So, with that out of the way, I don't own Fairy Tail.

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**Prologue: **For the Ones You Love

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Spasms of pain rippled across his body, making him flinch. He gritted his teeth and swung his left leg horizontally, feeling it knock into something solid. The metal edge of his shoulder-guard dug into his skin, drawing blood. He cursed, biting the inside of his cheek, hard. A foot connected with his stomach, sending him flying. A look of shock flashed across his features as he choked, his lungs screaming for oxygen.

The black humanoid forms encircled his position, cornering him like an animal. With hate-filled onyx eyes, he snarled at them. Desperate struggling ensued as he fought to keep free and unbound. He worriedly glanced at the girl who was lying on the cold stone floor more than thirty feet from the action. Her long silvery blonde hair was splayed around her body. She was dressed in a simple pale gown with a blue collar - the symbol of the Divine Gift. His eyes softened for a split second.

A sharp blow to the side of his face caused him to come back to reality. He sank back, brandishing his broken sword blade as his only weapon. But it was a deadly one, to them at least. The leader of the black group was sprawled out on the floor, the other half of the boy's weapon embedded in its side. The scythe that it had wielded was cracked and on the floor beside it, dejected and useless.

With great skill, he swiftly came up close to the creatures, twisting suddenly and slamming the flat of his blade against the head of the one closest to him. Despite this, the creature got right back up after a hard fall. He cursed again. He successfully stabbed two more of the humanoids in the chest, however narrowly missed their sickles as they sliced at him and cackled. He had long before blocked out their hisses and whispers, but their words were starting to reach him again.

_"She's dead..."_

_"Damn human. Didn't know they could get this strong."_

_"When do we get to suck the girl's soul?!"_

Fury ignited in him and seemed to radiate from his blazing eyes. _She wasn't dead! Of course he was strong! And NO, their sick skinny fingers would never touch her!_ With increased vigor he began beating the rest of them senseless, ruthlessly slashing through them with the shard that was his blade. He knew it was the only thing that could hurt them. The struggle, from an outsider's view, seemed hopeless. One bloodied, bruised, beaten boy of fourteen clad in banged up armor with a broken sword against more than fifty invincible humanoid soldiers... It was clear who had the advantage.

But like hell were odds going to stop him. The poor girl laying helpless on the ground behind him would not be harmed. _Not even over his dead body._

Suddenly, one of the sickles ripped out a chunk of his leg. He cried out, his shout of agony echoing on the tall grey walls of the shrine. He winced as he stepped on his leg, almost collapsing onto it. Blood seeped from the wound and ran over the metal covering his shin. After more grinding of teeth and muttering of curses, and he was back to hacking at the manlike monsters.

The fight had caused quite a mess to be smeared on the floor of the temple. The scarlet blood of the boy mixed with the strange stinking black blood of the creatures, creating a terrible stench. More than a few sprawling humanoid bodies were strewn about the large and spacious 'room'.

As he took out another one of the beings, he swerved over to the side, narrowly missing a sharp sickle swiping at his head. He lost his balance and fell to a floor slick with blood. The side of his face hit the ground hard, and he grunted as his hands flew to the ground to push himself back up. His breathing was shallow and haggard and his arms shook, but he managed to shove himself upward, creating the momentum he needed with a sharp thrust of his good leg. He used this to his advantage, swiping the sword shard in a large arc and taking out several humanoids at once.

Hours later, he laid on his back, panting hard, his mouth gaping and sucking in air. Thunder shook the shrine, booming and drumming against the grey scope of the cloudy sky. Blue electricity threaded and snaked across the grey, illuminating the landscape, particularly the dark outline of a castle not even a mile away from him. The boy lifted a shaking hand, his eyes widening as he saw the blood dripping from it. He locked his jaw and pushed himself up painfully. He turned himself over so that he was on all fours, staring at the smooth marble and more specifically, at the fresh blood dripping all over it. All of a sudden, he felt sick.

He raised his head, resisting the painful and insistent urge to vomit, and crawled over to the unconscious girl. He had to drag his right leg – no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn't move, and he had a terrible foreboding that it was due to the copious amount of blood still dripping from the wound. His breathing quickened when he saw her pale face and the serene expression she wore. She was a like those poplars of the underworld, dead and beautiful.

_But she isn't dead_, he thought, a sense of urgency clear in his mind, _she can't be_.

"Lucy," he whispered, his voice scratchy and hoarse. When she didn't respond, he allowed his face to contort in pain, both physical and emotional.

She had to be dead. It was the only explanation for her silence. He managed to look down at her and examine her further, his eyes widening in shock as they took in the curved black dagger that protruded from her chest. He froze at the sight.

"No."

_This couldn't be happening. No, it couldn't be happening._

He tensed, clenching and relaxing his raw hands over and over, making them bleed. Then he wailed, falling to his knees so he was bent down beside her, his head next to her's. He covered his ears and screamed in agony again. She was so... peaceful. But she was **dead**.

"Child," a voice called.. He looked up to see a beautiful woman illuminated by a ghostly white light.

"Mira..." he whispered, recognizing her from the tapestries within the castle. Lucy had told him of the goddess, the one who gifted humans with wishes. Quickly, ignoring the tears in his eyes, he knelt before her feet and laid his broken fragment of a sword in front of her. She remained stony-faced.

"If you truly... love her... then you will listen to what I have to tell you. I will grant you any wish, but at a terrible price. I warn you, you must do exactly as I say, or else you will not achieve your dream," she said, giving the dead girl a sad look.

"Yes. Anything to bring her back," he admitted, his voice shaking.

"Fine. But I warn you, the future will be forever changed if you do not follow what I say word for word. When I conduct the summoning, if I tell you to refuse, you must refuse. There are no second chances. This is your price to pay. The rest is up to fate."

The boy looked up at her through his pink bangs and nodded, still kneeling. Mira looked down at him, pity in her gaze. She then straightened, pulled her staff from beside her, and lifted it high into the air. The light that had been surrounding her now began collecting around the orb of her staff. She held it out over the boy's head.

"Come forth, demon!" she called harshly. Black liquid seeped out from the mist in the orb, building up on the floor. Suddenly, it dispersed into a black mist, and circled the boy.

"You must now ask this demon to grant your wish. The price for that depends on the demon. Go ahead, ask your-" She stopped short, her blue eyes widening as she saw the demon's form.

"NO!" Mira shouted in panic. "DON'T ACCEPT! SAY NO!"

"Will she die?" he muttered to her quietly, his voice almost lifeless.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER! YOU MUST DO AS I SAY AND _REFUSE_!"

He didn't answer.

_All you have to trade… is your _**soul**_._

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THANKS FOR READING! I would appreciate feedback. I'm currently not very far on this story, and I need ideas, suggestions, thoughts, critiques, and anything else you think would help.

"Every minute you laugh you lose .1 lb. Now go tell that to the next person you laugh at."

- Laugh


	2. Chapter One

Rather long A/N: Forgot the mention: The time period is the medieval time period. Think knights, castles, guards, mages, but not magic guilds... :( Sorry about no guilds. It didn't fit the story. Oh, but there's plenty of magic. Natsu's just not a Dragon Slayer. I do, for the enjoyment of some readers, make modern references. I try to resist for the most part, though. For instance, I mention gravity in one part. In the medieval times, nobody had a clue what 'gravity' meant other than the fact that if they let go of an apple all it did was fall to the ground.

Also, I want to remind the readers that this fic _is _an AU, so the characters may seem off. They're supposed to be. They don't have the exact same personalities, but I tried to keep their characterization intact. Some people who should be related aren't, and other people have extra siblings, etc. I've added some OCs, but they aren't really main characters. Fairy Tail dominates the cast for mains.

Oh! And more! This chapter, as well as several other chapters in this story, contain rather mature content. Not mature enough to rate it M, but it's really too intense for 12 and under. This chapter not so much with the age thing, but I'm just putting it out as a warning. It also might seem kinda GrayLu-ish in this chap, but what's a good romance story w/o a love triangle, or at least an implied one?

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**Chapter 1: **The Beginning of the End

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_Five years later..._

Lucy opened her deep brown eyes, shifting her body as she stretched. She yawned slightly and sat up on her elbows, shifting her weight to her arms. She looked around the room, smiling when she spotted the children, asleep in their own beds. She slid quietly out of her blankets and tip-toed to the door of their room.

Her adoptive family was kind and caring, and they took good care of her. She had barely any wants, but sometimes she felt inexplicably lonely, like someone else was supposed to be there. It was such a strange notion that she often chided herself whenever she thought of it. She always brushed it off.

"Lucy?" asked the voice of a child. Lucy turned and saw one of the family's youngest daughters, Angelia, sitting up in her cot. She rubbed her dark eyes, yawning. Lucy smiled at the sight of her, with her black bed-head and the pink marks on her cheek, revealing the wrinkles from her pillow.

She walked quickly over to the little girl's bed and put her blankets back over her, smiling down at her. "Shhh," she whispered, "It's still sleeping time for you."

"But," protested Angelia, "Where are you going, big sis?"

"Outside. Nothing for you to worry about. I wanted to check on my garden."

"Okay..."

Lucy knew that the only reason Angelia was so submissive was the fact that she had only been awake for a few moments. The small child was asleep seconds later. Lucy sighed, massaging her forehead.

It had been five years. The only five years of her life that she could remember. All of a sudden she was a fourteen-year-old, lying in a warm bed in this very room. Eventually, she'd accepted the family. They were kind to her, and treated her like one of their own.

Sighing, Lucy opened the wooden door and moved into the main area of the small home. They weren't any more than peasants, but they made do anyhow. The bare wood floors were one of the only luxuries that their place of living offered. She slipped on her thin shoes, her cloak, and opened the entrance to their home.

She immediately froze, seeing the one person she didn't want to see at the moment.

"Oh, hi, Gray," she said, nervously, trying to ignore the fact that he was obviously about to knock on their door. He looked freaked out, like he'd been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to. Of course, the look on his face didn't help. It screamed guilt.

"Hey, Lucy," he said, scratching the back of his head, "I was about to knock."

"I can see that." She winced. Her intention hadn't been to say it that way.

"Well... I'd better be going," he said, an odd tone to his voice. Apparently he hadn't caught her tone.

"Wait, I thought you wanted to come in?" she asked, closing the door behind her. This signalled that she was _not _going inside again.

"No, I just wanted to... check on you."

"Ah," said Lucy, confused. Then it hit her.

Gray smiled, attempting to mend the awkward situation, but failing miserably. Lucy pursed her lips, nodding back at him. He walked on toward the barracks, and she toward the other side of the small cottage-like house. She sighed. Fiore was such a large kingdom, and Magnolia the capitol, but the city wasn't extremely safe. She disapproved of Gray's joining the army, to say the least.

Scrunching up her eyebrows, she examined the newly-grown vegetables in her garden. Her mind was far from gardens, however. She was thinking back to the reason why the situation was so awkward between her and Gray. Also the reason she was mulling so much.

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_-Flashback-_

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_It had been a successful day, to say the least. Lucy had sold tons of goods at the shop, and had many interested in her doing housework for them. The haggly old widow Maiga had complimented her eyes. So had many others. _

_The eighteen-year-old blonde was certainly a sight, and not a bad one either. Her large brown eyes and tinkling laugh had most of the city boys watching her constantly. Their stares made her uncomfortable, but she tried desperately to hide it. She didn't want to embarrass herself more than she_ _had already. This was the first time she had worked with Mildred in the shop, instead of in the back._

_Lucy wished Gray were there. He always seemed to make things less pitiful._

"_Lucy! Be a dear and get me those muffins, will you?" asked her foster mother, Mildred._

"_Of course," Lucy said sweetly, retrieving said muffins. They smelled great. She wondered offhandedly who they were for._

_A couple of hours later, it was later in the evening, and Lucy had spare change in her pocket. She was going out to spend it on some hard candy for the children. The vendors were all putting their shops up, so she was anxious to get there in time. The market district was lit up by a few torchlights, scattered around and casting a dull glow wherever they were situated._

_She treaded carefully in the nighttime, making sure to be certain that no one was in her way. It was sort of dangerous in the market district at night, but she had promised to get Angelia and the others a treat for being out for most of the day._

_Lucy reached the closing rare candy vendor and laid out her change, requesting for as much candy as it could buy her. The man closing up frowned at her. He looked awfully peculiar to her, with a lightning shaped scar over his right eye__and bright yellow spiky hair. Even brighter than _her _hair._

"_Fine," he snorted. He was quite young, probably no more than five years older than she was. However, she'd never been that great at guessing people's ages. Once, when she'd mentioned to that widow Maiga that she was beautiful for her age, she'd almost gotten slapped. Maiga was thirty-five._

_Lucy gave him a concerned look, then exchanged her money for the sweets. They were molasses sticks, the children's favorite. She smiled gratefully at the man. He blinked in surprise._

"_What's your name?" she asked, still smiling._

_He blinked again. "Laxus. Laxus Dreyar."_

"_Thank you very much, Laxus Dreyar," called, leaving and waving back at him. A faint smile appeared on his usually hardened face._

_Lucy continued on her way back to her home. She had a long way to go, and the sunlight was fading quickly. The dull light of the lamps was becoming more clear, but there were still dark spots. She shivered. Getting caught in one of the dark places was not on the agenda._

_She reflected on the events of the previous day. Her features darkened._

_Gray had left. He'd abandoned her and gone off to join the army. She'd asked, no, _begged _him not to go. Of course, he had asked that question, and she had drawn back and run away. He'd asked her if she was afraid of losing him. It was something Lucy couldn't answer to even herself._

_A gut-wrenching scream was heard from her right. Lucy's head whipped toward the cry, in an effort to assess the situation. She caught a glimpse of a woman being dragged across one of the streets on the other side of an alley passageway between two buildings. She was being pulled by some of the soldiers, probably for vulgar reasons. Her eyes widening with the realization, she ran after them, forgetting her own safety._

_That nice man named Laxus was probably too far away to help anyway. And Gray... _Well, _she thought bitterly to herself, _he couldn't be there anyway.

_Normally Lucy would call on Gray in times of need. He was always there. But now... She grit her teeth in frustration as her feet pounded down the alley, following the shrieks of the poor woman. She glanced at the houses and shops surrounding her. You'd think that someone other than her would hear this!_

"_Stop!" she called, once she had caught sight of the soldiers again. It was disgusting that the soldiers engaged in such filthy and inappropriate actions. She had witnessed the public punishments for this idiocy, so why did it keep happening?! It was an outrage!_

_The three soldiers kept stumbling along, pulling along the woman and obviously very drunk. She rolled her eyes inwardly. One of them looked back briefly, long enough for her to catch his face._

_She felt cold inside._

Gray?! _she thought, panic setting in. Her breathing quickened, as she realized that the face of the soldier she saw dragging the poor girl was indeed Gray. Her heart sank._

"_Gray!" she screamed desperately, running after him and calling his name, again and again. Everything felt surreal and like it wasn't true. No, it really wasn't true. She really couldn't handle this._

_He turned, his eyes widening at the sound of her voice, and the sight of her running after him. He grabbed the arm of one of the other soldiers, stopping him. He jerked back, unsteady. Gray wasn't exactly sober as well, but certainly more than the other two._

"_Wha..." the other soldier complained, loosening his grip on the poor girl. Lucy was catching up now, and she could see that they were about the same age. She had bright blue eyes that were wide with fear, and short white-silver hair. She was shaking, even Lucy could see that from a distance._

_Lucy caught up, and grabbed Gray's shoulder and tugged hard. He gripped harder on the other soldier's arm. In turn, this ended up in the poor girl getting released. She ran like a mountain goat from a mountain lion, back in the direction she came from. Silence ensued for the next few split seconds._

SLAP.

_Lucy's hand stung as she slammed her palm into Gray's cheek. His head was slapped to the right, his left cheek visibly swollen after only a few seconds. His hand rose slowly to his face._

_Silence._

_More silence._

"_Lucy," said Gray. She winced at the sound of his voice, which sounded heavy and slurred. The other two soldiers stood, having been knocked down by Lucy's earlier assault. They looked quite angry._

"_Hey," they slurred. One of them hiccuped. Lucy ignored both._

"_Is this what you want, Gray?" she asked, looking up at him, sorrow filling her eyes, "I warned you about this." She was hurt. Really hurt._

"_Lucy, I-"_

"_I said hey, woman!" one of the other soldiers yelled, as he slammed a metal-covered fist into Gray's stomach, effectively moving him out of the way. Lucy screamed as his face contorted in pain. He landed hard against the wall on the side of the alley, blood trickling from his mouth._

_She looked up at the soldier in horror. _How on earth was he that strong? _she wondered, terrified._

_He grabbed her wrists and pulled them above her head, making her drop the molasses candies for the children. She gasped. His grip was strong - really strong - she could practically feel the bruises forming._

"_Let... go!" she grumbled in effort, trying to free her wrists. She looked toward Gray despairingly. He didn't stir._

"_Gray! Help me, Gray!"_

"_Shut it bitch!" The rough soldier with the strong grip lifted her from the ground. She felt her weight sag as gravity took it's toll. The other soldier, a shorter one with long fingers, stroked her cheek lightly._

"_Does it feel nice, slappin' someone?" he asked. Lucy grimaced, smelling the foul scent of alcohol in his warm breath. She glared at him in disgust. He sneered, his dark eyes shining and glazed. It made him look crazed, and dangerous. He grasped her straight hair and tugged on it, bringing unwanted tears to her eyes._

"_No, please stop! Gray!"_

"_Gray!"_

"Gray!_"_

_The two goon-soldiers were grinning with malicious intentions in their eyes. Lucy couldn't stop the tears that kept falling incessantly out of her eyes, not only from the pain, but from her position. Her head hurt from them pulling on her hair, and so did her hands. Against her will, she heard herself whimper. This only made it worse._

"_Oi, Gray!" yelled the one holding her up in the air, "Wake up, princesssss! Help us out! She knows you!"_

"_Kill... you... Asshole..." growled Gray, struggling to stand. He coughed again, and blood sputtered from his lips. He managed to stand, though slumped over and holding his stomach._

"_Gray," Lucy whispered, "Tell me you split your lip. Tell me it's just your lip."_

"_I said shut UP!" raged the other one, holding her hair. He yanked it again, and slapped her across the face. Lucy's face stung, and she could feel it swell. Her cheek glistened as more tears joined the ones dampening the edge of her blouse._

"_Please, stop!" she begged. The two soldiers didn't look like they were going to listen to her advice._

SLAM.

_Lucy's eyes widened. She barely saw or comprehended the scene that had happened right in front of her eyes. Before she could see anything, both of the soldiers who had assaulted her were now sprawled out on the ground, knocked unconscious. She wasn't hanging in the air by her wrists anymore. Instead, she was laying, quite exhausted from her struggle, on someone's warm, but clothed, chest._

_Her first thought was that Gray had managed to rescue her, and she sighed contentedly. However, when she opened her eyes enough to spot him still slumped against the alley wall, she blinked hazily, confused. It all felt so surreal and blurry. It was like someone had drugged her, and she had just woken up. She closed her eyes instinctively. _

_Suddenly becoming aware that strong arms were wrapped around her, Lucy whimpered slightly, still against her will. She felt the man holding her shift her around to face him. She opened her brown eyes to examine her savior. She felt a pang of recognition, but dismissed it. _

"_Are you o-" he froze._

_Lucy couldn't help but notice that he was very handsome, in a boyish sort of way. He had dark eyes that were framed by a sharp edge. She turned her attention toward his hair, which was... bright pink and spik__e__y? She blinked in confusion. She'd never seen anyone with that color, or type for that matter, of hair._

_His face was priceless. It was like he was registering shock that he really couldn't handle. She weakly smiled at him and raised her eyebrows questioningly. A look of panic and horror flashed across his features, confusing her thoroughly. Lucy's smile faded into a frown._

_The man's breathing quickened, like he was terrified. Lucy blinked. She thought that now was not a good time to thank him. He looked just about ready to hyperventilate. But then again, she might not get the chance ever again._

"_Thank you," she squeaked, surprised at the small sound of her own voice. He flinched, still staring down at her with a look of shock. It quickly turned into an expression of sadness. Real, heart-wrenching sadness. This made her even more confused._

_Lucy had been too occupied to notice that Gray, by this time, had stood all the way up, and limped over to them. He looked terrible, thanks to the cuts on his forehead, the slap mark on his cheek, the dried blood on his mouth, and the state his stomach was in. Intaking a sharp breath, he grit his teeth and looked down at Lucy._

"_Lucy," he whispered, "I'm sorry."_

_She wouldn't look at him. She couldn't without getting angry._

_The man who had saved her gulped, attempting to control his facial expressions. Lucy could tell there was a mess going on in his head right then, but the reason _why_ eluded her._

"_Here," he said, his voice cracking. He stood, carrying Lucy gently. She closed her eyes and felt the hum of his voice in his chest._

_He looked at Gray. "Do you need..." he trailed off, hoping that the soldier would get the idea._

"_Uh, no sir," said Gray, giving the salute of the army._

_The pink-haired man almost winced. "Then assist me in finding this girl's lodging, then report back to the barracks." Lucy twitched. His voice was so commanding and cold. Was he... angry? _

Why?!

"_Yes, sir."_

_Lucy felt herself being carried back to the peasant district, where her home was. She had closed her eyes, but she could still hear the steady thumping of the feet holding her, and well as the limping of Gray ahead of them._

_When they had returned to where she lived with her foster family, she was almost asleep. She could barely hear her mother screaming in shock when she saw her in that state, then fussing over her while she was still in the man's felt herself being laid gently onto her familiar bed, and her warm covers put over her, making her feel secure. She smiled in her semi-consciousness._

"_Thank you so much, sir!" Her mother._

"_It was nothing. I'd say I was doing my job, but I'm leaving here tomorrow."_

"_Well, if I can't give you something, can I ask your name?"_

"_Er... Natsu."_

"_Well," she heard her mother huff, "Who would have thought? Thank you, Natsu. I don't know what we would have done without you!"_

"_..."_

"_You must be tired. Now go on to wherever you sleep," she said gratefully. _

"_Yes... Ma'am."_

_Lucy felt her eyes droop as she fell into deep unconsciousness._

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_-End of ridiculously long Flashback-_

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_Soooo... how was it?_

I actually finished this part quite a while ago. If you're reading this, thanks so much for doing so! Reviews are appreciated! ;P


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